Yoga Breaks in Spain ©

About Us

We are Nicole & Gary Stone & we founded Yoga Breaks in Spain shortly after moving here in 2003.     Gary was a secondary school teacher in the UK and Nicole was a corporate marketing manager (& part time yoga teacher) both working long hours without ever seeming to get anywhere.   Sound familiar?   

We moved to Spain to take a break from the pressure and pace of UK life.   Our daughter Poppy was spending 10 hours a day at a child minder & we were rushing around trying to balance work, home and social lives.   It was exhausting.    We knew that if we didn't change our life soon, something was going to break.  

Nicole  realised that she loved teaching yoga more than the "exciting" world of corporate marketing with its deadlines, budgets and agency meetings.    "After years of studying & teaching yoga in the evenings I knew that  my life had to include more yoga.  I felt happiest when I was on my yoga mat rather than behind my desk in the corporate world.    I spent months ignoring my intuition & kept juggling work, yoga & home life - not always successfully.     Eventually, after several illnesses, I began to re-evaluate what I really, truly wanted to do with the rest of my  life.   That is when I woke up to the fact that yoga meant more to me than the trappings & rewards of a successful career & so we began to plan our "escape" to Spain where we could pursue our dream of running yoga holidays for stressed corporate execs like us."  

We moved to the Costa Blanca region in Spain, a beautiful region with awe inspiring mountains & the Mediterranean sea all around.       The pace of life is much slower  & no-one is measured by what car they drive, how much they earn or what clothes they wear.    This is how life should be.

Within months of arriving, we ran our first yoga holidays for  friends & family but word spread & friends of the friends wanted to come too!     Now we run up to 10 holidays a year between March & October when the weather is at it's absolute best.     

The Yoga BreaksTeam

In addition to the Yoga Teachers - read about those on The Yoga page - we have a great team of people who make the world of difference to our yoga holidays.

We have two therapy fairies - Kelly & Valerie.   These lovely girls are true professionals having worked on cruise ships, The Sanctuary Covent Garden and salons across the world.   Kelly is a classically trained beauty therapist who dispenses many glorious therapies - personal favourite is the facial.     Then there's the lovely gentle Val who's the queen of alternative therapies including Hot Stone Massage, Reiki and Reflexology.     Read about the girls therapies on the Therapies page.

                                                                           Fairy Nr. 1 - Kelly                                                Fairy Nr 2 - Valerie (well OK, her hands!)

Gary and Sarah are our  mountain bike guides - or should we say mountain goats!   They know the area like the back of their hands.   They'll take you on a fantastic ride with expert guidance and care.   ps. don't worry, they tailor the route & ride according to your experience & bravery!

Gary who guides the walks, is a great conversationalist  and all round good egg!    He's the one with the black t-shirt on the right.  (Just look at the gorgeous March sunshine!)

Then you have Bronwyn who teaches art on the holidays (she's camera shy - we're still waiting for a picture of her!).   She's another great personality, a very gentle funny lady with an Honors  Fine Arts degree.     She is a brilliant teacher, coaxing the most nervous of artists to pick up a paint brush & believe in themselves.   Some of the pictures that have been created have been really quite incredible.

You'll also meet other members of the support team from George & Kevin our airport drivers, David & Mila the hosts & owners of the Chamarel, the housekeeping team at the hotel who do a great spring clean of your room each day & of course, the chefs who are passionate about creating the most delicious dishes for our guests to enjoy ... devour might be a better word!

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